Atmore brings RPG club to Harkness tabletop

Dwarves, halflings, gnomes, orcs, and of course, dungeons and dragons. Dungeons and Dragons is a popular fantasy role-playing game that began to sweep the nation in 1974. The game was especially popular among kids and teenagers. However, it takes a sizable amount of time to complete a game and most teenagers have trouble fitting it into their busy schedules.

Senior Ben Atmore has struggled with this problem throughout his high school years, and decided to take matters into his own hands this fall.

“After talking to several kids last year about their desire to play Dungeons and Dragons in particular, I realized: what better way to facilitate that than to bring it into the school setting and allow for a greater range of people to join and to learn how to play and to actually get to play,” Atmore said.

He is aware of the main demographic of the game and hopes to change this by gaining members.

“I’ve hoped to expand the attendance of the club from a bunch of scrawny white male kids and already I’ve done that,” Atmore said. “There are students of color and female-identifying students have shown significant interest in it, which means a lot to me, because since its birth in the 80s, Dungeons and Dragons, and roleplaying games in general, have been associated with nerdy white boys who live in their mothers’ basements far after the age of 30.”

Dungeons and Dragons is not only a fun, and entertaining way to spend a couple hours, Atmore explained.

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There are students of color and female-identifying students have shown significant interest in it, which means a lot to me.”

— senior Ben Atmore

“I guess just if you have any interest in pretending, or dress up or the world of imagination and the limitless possibilities of your mind, this is an amazing platform in which you can explore that and have legitimate meaningful experiences and learn new lessons through experiencing it by playing another character or person.”

For those who are already committed to a club, it is possible to participate in both. The Role Playing Game Club will meet outside of school hours for the most part, making it convenient for busy students.